Lack of Consumer Price Index to Delay Inflation Adjustments to Tax Code, Benefits

The Labor Department announced Oct. 10 that because of the government shutdown, the September consumer price index won’t be released Oct. 16 as scheduled, likely delaying the determination of the 2014 cost-of-living adjustment for Social Security beneficiaries as well as the many parts of the tax code that are adjusted to inflation.

The CPI and related price indexes are used as the basis for calculating cost-of-living adjustments in wages for many workers covered by collective bargaining agreements and for benefit payments to more than 56 million Social Security retirees, dependents and survivors and to some 1.9 million federal government retirees. ...